buttonhole bag before felting

I wanted a new tote. One that was large enough to carry a couple of projects. I also wanted to try felting in my front-loading washer. The two wants met in this giant-sized “buttonhole bag“.

It was knit with two strands of a chunky wool yarn on size 15 needles. I’m not overly fond of fun fur and eyelash, but I thought a little bit would add a fun funkyness to the whole rather retro color scheme.

The top picture is pre-felting and the middle is the finished product. The bottom picture shows the lining. (Click on any pic for the larger sized version.) I tossed it in the washer with a few towels and washed it on super-hot for about 1-1/2 hours. I could have felted it harder and lost all stitch definition, but as you can see from the bottom pic it’s hard enough to stand on its own.

after felting

I’m glad to know that I can actually felt successfully in my washer.

The finished bag is large enough (about 17″ at the widest) to make a nice-sized project bag. I encouraged the top of the bag to roll because I liked that look. I want the lining to include a few little pockets to hold sundries, and I also put a zipper on one of the pockets so little things can be held securely.

buttonhole bag lined

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